 Houston Rockets 2009/2010 |
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Despite injuries to Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady, some Rockets trademarks remain
Offseason Moves
It was a busy offseason in Houston, especially after learning that Yao's recovery from the foot injury would not be a speedy one. The Rockets expect him to miss the entire season and the hope is that he can come back to his former level in 2010-11, but it's tricky enough that there are no guarantees. Meanwhile, Mutombo retired from his knee injury. The news on McGrady is better: He's shown enough progress over the summer that it's possible he'll return by opening night. It remains questionable how much zip he'll have left in his step, not to mention how much zest for the game he retains.
As a result, the Rockets spent the summer focused more on the future than on the present, spending nearly $9 million to acquire the rights to four young players while letting a few older ones move on.
Let Von Wafer leave and drafted Chase Budinger, Jermaine Taylor and Sergio Llull.
Wafer got a good deal in Greece and decided to make the leap, leaving a scoring hole in the Houston bench. Houston drafted three players at his position, paying $6 million in total to acquire the rights to Budinger, Taylor and Llull as second-round picks on draft day. Llull has the most promise of the three but will stay in Europe for the time being, while Budinger and Taylor will compete for a rotation spot.
Let Ron Artest leave and signed Trevor Ariza for five years, $36 million.
One of Houston's biggest decisions was making what effectively was a trade of small forwards with the Lakers, deciding to allow Artest to move on and signing Ariza to a five-year deal for the full midlevel exception. It made all kinds of sense for Houston, as Artest's antics were much easier to deal with on a short-term deal on a club with championship aspirations than on the rebuilding team that Houston carries into the coming season.
Ariza is a much better fit because he's still young (24) and still improving. While it's totally unrealistic to expect him to shoot the way he did in the playoffs -- he's a 29.9 percent career 3-point shooter -- he should provide an effective long-term solution at small forward. Houston also caught a break when the league granted an injury exception for Yao prior to Ariza's signing, enabling the Rockets to slot Ariza into the injury exception and pursue other players with their midlevel.
Traded for rights to David Andersen, signed him for three years, $7.5 million.
The Rockets paid Atlanta $3 million and relinquished a second-round draft pick to get their mitts on Andersen, who has been one of Europe's most productive big men for the past half-decade. His translated European stats from the past several seasons show a PER in the 12-14 range. He's a consistent midrange shooter and can hit face up J's with a hand in his face, but he's the archetypal European softie and a subpar rebounder and defender. Only the first two years are guaranteed, so he's a decent gamble to supplement the frontcourt, especially since the team needs more offense.
Signed Pops Mensah-Bonsu to a one-year deal for the minimum.
An athletic big man who can really rebound, Mensah-Bonsu adds another undersized big man to the Rockets' growing contingent: He's a 6-foot-9, 235-pound center. Signing Mensah-Bonsu gives the Rockets 17 players under contract, but it's likely that two older veterans with expiring deals -- Brent Barry and Brian Cook -- will either be bought out or traded to bring Houston back to the league roster limit of 15.
Traded James White to Denver for the rights to Axel Hervelle.
The Rockets dealt White, a promising prospect who was among the best players in the D-League last season, because they had 17 players and 15 roster spots. Mainly they saved a bit of money, but unlike a lot of Europeans you see thrown into these deals, Hervelle isn't dead weight. He's a Belgian rebounding power forward who could plausibly crack an NBA roster at some point.
Biggest Strength: Wing Defense
The Rockets may not be as imposing as they were a year ago at the defensive end, but they're still going to be vexing for high-scoring wing players. Houston can throw a tag team of defenders at opposing 2s and 3s led by Battier, who should be fully recovered from last year's foot problems. His length at 6-8 makes him a huge obstacle for shooters, but it's his intelligence as a defender that really sets him apart: He's a master of forcing opponents into long 2s and then making a late challenge around their eyes.
Behind him is Ariza, another long 6-8 wing who adds the ability to zip into passing lanes for steals and blaze in from the weak side for blocked shots, and McGrady, who isn't exactly renowned for his intensity but causes problems with his sheer length at 6-8. Another factor here when the Rockets go small is Lowry, who is undersized at 6-0 but tough as nails and eminently capable of guarding 2s when opponents go with small backcourt combos.
Biggest Weakness: Frontcourt Size
Once Yao went out, the obvious difference in the Lakers series was Houston's Lilliputian frontline going up against 7-0 Pau Gasol and 7-1 Andrew Bynum. With Yao gone for the entire year, look for more of the same. Scola and Landry, Houston's likely starting frontcourt, each are listed at 6-9, and I emphasize "listed at" -- Landry in particular is more like 6-7. They're backed up by the even smaller Chuck Hayes, who at 6-6 is unquestionably the league's shortest center.
Andersen, at 7-0, is the only healthy player on the roster taller than 6-9, and he weighs just 235 pounds and abhors contact. Otherwise, it's more of the same in the Houston frontcourt: Deep reserves include 6-9 Cook and Mensah-Bonsu and 6-8 Joey Dorsey.
This is likely going to create problems against big teams like the Lakers, as neither Scola nor Landry has the size to defend top-notch post players without accumulating fouls. The presence of Yao and Mutombo largely insulated the Rockets from such pairings a year ago, but they won't have that protective cover this time around.
Outlook
Houston will unquestionably slide in the standings from a year ago. While the Artest-Ariza trade is at worst a wash, the same can't be said for the Yao-Andersen swap. Additionally, the Rockets took a step back on the bench by deciding to build for the future with White, Budinger and Taylor rather than re-signing Wafer and targeting another player with the leftover portion of their midlevel exception.
In particular, it's not clear how they're going to score. Scola, Ariza and Brooks will put up decent numbers and the vastly underrated Landry could be poised for a breakout year, but the bench has less fizz than day-old champagne and the lack of a go-to star will strain all the others to force up shots they wouldn't otherwise take. The early return of McGrady won't provide a panacea either, as he had been in a steady descent prior to the injury and will be working his way back into game shape.
Houston will still defend, despite its size disadvantage up front, and it's a given that Rick Adelman will squeeze as much from this roster as it can give. But the Western Conference is a cruel place to compete with an All-Star center sitting behind the bench in civilian clothes, so it's likely to be a difficult year in Houston. A strong return from McGrady could propel the Rockets to a playoff spot and yet another first-round exit, but that's about the ceiling here.
Prediction: 37-45, 4th in Southwest Division, 9th in Western Conference
13 David Andersen
1 Trevor Ariza
17 Brent Barry (il est toujours dans le roster ??)
31 Shane Battier
0 Aaron Brooks
10 Chase Budinger
12 Will Conroy
43 Brian Cook
15 Joey Dorsey
44 Chuck Hayes
14 Carl Landry
Sergio Llull **
7 Kyle Lowry
3 Tracy McGrady
21 Pops Mensah-Bonsu
4 Luis Scola
8 Jermaine Taylor
2 Garrett Temple
11 Yao Ming (out remainder of season)
En rouge : nouveaux arrivants (transferts, draft, signatures...)
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